Press Release

Human Rights First to Recognize Morgan Lewis for Pro Bono Asylum Work

LOS ANGELES and ORANGE COUNTY, August 21, 2019: Morgan Lewis will receive Human Rights First’s 2019 Marvin E. Frankel Award for its pro bono service to individuals seeking asylum in the United States.

For nearly a decade, Morgan Lewis lawyers throughout the United States have collaborated with Human Rights First by contributing more than 12,000 hours to pro bono immigration matters. Most recently, lawyers in the firm’s Los Angeles and Orange County offices travelled hundreds of miles to secure protections for asylum seekers held in California’s Adelanto detention center, and they supported Human Rights First’s research and advocacy efforts to highlight conditions there.

Named for Judge Marvin E. Frankel, a founding father of Human Rights First and former chairman of its board of directors, the award is presented annually to law firms that have made extraordinary efforts on behalf of asylum seekers.

Morgan Lewis in the past year also worked with Human Rights First to secure asylum for two women who fled persecution in Eritrea and Ethiopia due to their sexual orientation and protest of forced military service. Additionally, the law firm helped secure US work authorization for a Ugandan whose opposition to the country’s ruling party resulted in imprisonment.

The Marvin E. Frankel Award will be presented to Morgan Lewis on October 28 at Human Rights Firsts’ annual dinner in New York.